It is desirable in various applications to precisely control the pointing of a light or laser beam. For example, various systems, such as laser communication systems, can require pointing a laser beam at a receiver located many miles distant from a source of the laser beam. For such applications, pointing mechanisms incorporating lenses and mirrors have been developed. However, such systems can suffer from transmission inefficiencies. Moreover, such systems can be difficult to control.
In some systems, the controlled pointing of a light beam is accomplished by selectively varying the location on a lens or lens system at which a laser beam is incident. Movement of the laser beam relative to the lens can be accomplished using a support structure that permits controlled movement of an element transmitting the beam, such as an end of an optical fiber. In such systems, it is desirable to provide a support structure that permits movement of the transmitting fiber in a plane, while preventing or constraining such movement in dimensions laying outside of the plane. For example, in a laser communications system, it is desirable to provide pointing of a laser beam with great precision, as small changes at a transmitting node can result in large changes many miles distant at or near a receiving node.
Although mechanisms for enabling the movement of an end of an optical fiber or other object within a plane have been developed, such mechanisms have suffered from various deficiencies. For example, the configuration of such systems has resulted in thermal isolation of at least some of the actuators, making it difficult to adequately cool the affected actuators. This can adversely affect pointing accuracy of the optical fiber as different components of the system may experience wide temperature variations. Materials used in some systems also have fatigue limitations which can decease the life of the system. Finally, the limited range of motion of some prior art system limits the number of applications that can be supported by such systems.